Roberto Di Tuccio

Details from Mark B. Abbe, Tuna Şare Ağtürk 2019. “The new corpus of painted Imperial Roman marble reliefs from Nicomedia: a preliminary report on polychromy” Techne 48: “Having both descended from their flanking purple chariots, for all of their similitudo,they are clearly and emphatically differentiated, not only in their standing height and the height of their flying Nikai, but also, conspicuously, in their hair color: the taller, elder greeting emperor at left (Diocletian) has a light gray brown color, while the emperor at right (Maximian) has a remarkably different red hue.”

💜The embracing emperors💜

Diocletian and Maximian are shown in unified leadership of the Roman empire this #ReliefWednesday. Both have stepped down from their chariots to greet each other.

#AncientRome #AncientBluesky🏺

I’m not sure about the healing time, but I really hope you’re feeling a bit better soon! Sending you good thoughts 🌷

Pliny complaining abt people gossiping & slinking out of Roman poetry recitals early (“Nor do they sit it out; no, before the close of the recital they slip away, some sidling out so as not to attract attention, others rising openly & walking out boldly” Ep.1.13) is such an academic conference vibe.

Kent council bans transgender books in children’s library section KCC says the move came after a

This is hateful and dystopian. I was just on holiday in Kent. Nice to know how welcome queer people (esp children) are there eh? Please, Kent locals, write to your councillors and resist this grossness. #KidLitUK www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Thanks so much, Roy!!

Thanks so much!

I did it – I’m officially Dr Di Tuccio!

Huge thanks to my supervisors, examiners, and the Dept. of Classics & Ancient History at Durham.
This is just the beginning. I’ll keep pushing boundaries and giving voice to ancient sex workers and other marginalised figures in Greek and Roman literature ✨📚🏛️

My lovely students from the Pompeii module are exhibiting their visual reconstruction projects today in @durhamclassics.bsky.social! They’ve produced some excellent work and I am very proud of them.

Poster by Eleanor Paxton 😊

In 1492, Pope Alexander VI (aka Roderigo Borgia) banned the yearly prostitute races through the streets of Rome because they would corrupt respectable women viewing them. So his son Cesare compromised by bringing the competition into the Papal Apartments, where only clergy & men could see them.

'I'm nearly dying in the foundry! I'm tied up; I'm being treated like dirt'. The brutality of ancient slavery in a fourth century BC letter incised on a strip of lead.

Text from Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 163 (2017), p.49-50
Picture: © Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και Αθλητισμού, ΕΦΑ Αθηνών

Rainbows in the storm: Navigating hostility and hope in LGBTQ+ lives David Woodhead

Quote: “What are the long-term impacts of enduring hate, not just on us as individuals but on the many LGBTQ+ communities we belong to?” “And perhaps more fundamentally, how do we survive, let alone thrive, in a world that questions our existence?”

Rainbows in the storm: Navigating hostility and hope in LGBTQ+ lives

Following last week's Supreme Court ruling & new data on suicide deaths, @davidwoodhead.bsky.social explores how mental health inequalities are impacting LGBTQ+ people, and how we can tackle these injustices👇 tinyurl.com/mpu2a7px

We need moderation that understands nuance. Scholars shouldn’t have to euphemise their research just to be allowed on the platform. #AcademicBluesky #SexWork #ResearchMatters #Humanities #ContentModeration

This isn’t just about one word. It’s about how automated moderation systems erase marginalised subjects — even in scholarly contexts — and make it harder for researchers working on gender, sexuality, and identity to speak clearly and publicly about their work.

I changed the wording — reluctantly — but then raised a separate issue: that their moderation policies force researchers to misrepresent our work.

Their response? A generic copy-paste that didn’t address the issue at all.

It’s now been over a day with no follow-up.

I recently tried to update my LinkedIn bio to reflect my academic research on the literary portrayal of Greek sex workers (hetairai) in Imperial Graeco-Roman literature.
@linkedin.com wouldn’t let me use the term “sex worker”, even in a clearly academic and respectful context.

I came, I wrote, I submitted! Not quite sure how I feel yet, but I can’t wait to defend my work on Graeco-Roman sex workers! (Or should I say… can’t wait to attack?) 💁🏻‍♂️📚

Fabulous fun launch of Epic of the Earth last night at Durham with Katrina Kelly providing superb questions. Thanks so much to Magdalena Zira, Roberto di Tuccio, @profarlenehh.bsky.social Alessandro Vatri, Rory McInnes-Gibbons for sterling support @durhamclassics.bsky.social @classical_association

The final thesis revision is hitting hard. I saw this 3rd-century CE mosaic from Antioch for the first time and almost burst into tears—Glykera, the hetaira (sex worker), standing between Comedy and Menander. Now at the Princeton University Art Museum

Get ready for another exciting Plato event in Durham, organised by me and my amazing friend and colleague Dr Giovanni Trovato!
@durhamclassics.bsky.social
#plato #ancientmedicine #medicalhumanities #durhamclassics

That’s fantastic news! Congratulations! 👏🏻

My last paper as a PhD candidate! It was a pleasure to discuss sex workers in Alciphron’s and Aristaenetus’ letters at Edinburgh University @edinclassics.bsky.social. Huge thanks to @janjasoldo.bsky.social , @gibsonroyk.bsky.social, and Andrew Morrison